2:14 C: Among those who are well-pleasing, ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας.
The ancient synagogue craved the divine εὐδοκία = רָצוֹן
in the Eighteen Benedictions (the seventeenth prayer of the Babylonian
recension): Take pleasure, Yahweh our God, in your people Israel, and look
graciously upon their prayer, and lead the sacrificial service back to the Holy
of Holies of your house, and the fire offerings of Israel, and hastily accept
their prayer and their ministry in love with mercy, and be pleased לְרָצוֹן with the sacrifice of your people Israel,
and be gracious to us, and may our eyes see your return to your dwelling place
on Zion in mercy as it was before in ancient times. Praise be to you, Yahweh,
who hastily lets his Shekinah (presence) return to Zion.—This is different in
the sixteenth prayer of the Palestinian recension.—See further at Pss. Sol.
8:34 (according to the verse division by Fritzsche), “We and our children will
have your goodwill ἡ
εὐδοκία forever! Lord our
Savior, we no longer stagger forever.”—See further Pss. Sol. 3:4, “A righteous
man does not pay little attention when he is chastised by the Lord (cf. Prov
3:11f.). His goodwill εὐδοκία αὐτοῦ is always before
the Lord.”—In connection with the Messianic age, 1 Enoch 1:8 says: “He (God)
will make peace with the righteous and protect the elect. Grace will prevail
over them, and they will all belong to God. They will have his goodwill and be
blessed, and the light of God will shine on them.”—Testament of Levi 18: “The
Lord will rejoice over his children, and the Lord will take pleasure in his
beloved εὐδοκήσει ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαπτοῖς αὐτοῦ.” (Hermann L. Strack and Paul
Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash,
ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino;
Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2022], 2:136-37)
